Inmates at 2 Illinois prisons allowed again to talk on phone with attorneys, after temporary suspension

Illinois Department of Corrections officials say they have restored attorney-client phone calls at Stateville and Hill prisons, acknowledging that pandemic-related restrictions on inmate movement had forced officials to temporarily suspend the calls.

The calls, which require access to a part of the prison that has privacy and phone lines that are not monitored, had been put on hold due to COVID-19 precautions. Attorneys told the Tribune last week they had been informed they might have to wait until the first week of May to speak to a client.

Advertisement

“Obviously these are extraordinary circumstances but people who are in custody still have a constitutional right to communicate,” said Sheila Bedi, a professor of law at Northwestern University and one of several Chicago attorneys who filed a lawsuit against IDOC over the COVID-related risks to thousands of inmates inside Illinois prisons.

Bedi said Monday that she was alerted that she would be able to speak to a client Wednesday.

“I’m encouraged to know this is happening," she said. “And I hope they will continue to understand that these attorney calls are lifelines.”

An IDOC spokeswoman said in an email that both facilities had calls scheduled for that day, and that some calls took place Monday.

When contacted by the Tribune last week, IDOC confirmed the calls had been halted because the facilities had to "limit all movement to reduce risk of spreading or exposing individuals to COVID-19.”

“As a result, offenders were unable to travel outside of their cell houses to use unmonitored phone lines,” the emailed statement said.

Privileged mail to attorneys was never halted, according to the statement. And calls to family were allowed to continue.

Stateville, in particular, has been hit hard by the outbreak, with 191 inmates and staff testing positive at the prison near Joliet. Throughout all Illinois prisons, 283 staff and inmates have tested positive.

But it is those very conditions that make the calls urgent, said attorney Joshua Tepfer, who has filed close to a dozen medical furlough and commutation requests on behalf of clients.

Tepfer said the last time he was able to communicate with a client at Stateville was March 30. As of now, his next call is scheduled for May 5.

“If it goes to May 5, it will have gone on five weeks,” Tepfer said, who said he was sensitive to the emergency situation. “But part of the fact is that this is an ever-changing situation, where we are seeking emergency relief. People who are responding need details. We have questions to ask.”

Breaking News Newsletter

As it happens

Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our breaking email alerts

Advocates also expressed concern about whether inmates will be able to speak to attorneys on unrestricted lines during the pandemic and amid reports of substandard conditions inside the state’s prison system.

“One of the only tools advocates have at their disposal to hold IDOC accountable for how they are handling the COVID crisis is through friends and family calls and attorney calls,” said Jobi Cates, executive director of Restore Justice Foundation, a state prison advocacy group. “And we can’t let either of those dry up.”

Cates also noted that not all inmates have regular calls with friends and family, meaning that attorneys are potentially their only contact.